Category : ESEF Reporting
When the ESEF mandate was announced for listed companies across the EU in 2019, Colruyt Group’s consolidated team was faced with the prospect of soon being required to file annual reports in a format they were unfamiliar with – Inline XBRL. Since ESEF was an annual requirement, the group did not want to invest more time and resources than were necessary for the compliance process. They began looking for a trusted software provider who could deliver an exceptional filing experience.
Colruyt Group is known in Belgium for the “best prices and best quality in retail” and the company was influenced by the same factors in its search for an ESEF filing solution. The group narrowed down the following priorities for ESEF compliance
Based on the priorities identified, IRIS CARBON® worked with Colruyt’s consolidation team to formulate the right objectives for their ESEF filing project. These objectives helped teams stay on course toward a successful ESEF filing.
As the first step in Colruyt’s ESEF compliance journey, team IRIS CARBON® converted the company’s 2018-19 AFR into the iXBRL format.
The exercise had a benefit to it. Team Colruyt could examine first-hand the ESEF taxonomy tags that apply to their disclosures and the appearance of an iXBRL annual report. During a highly successful two-day workshop, IRIS CARBON® handheld team Colruyt through a review of their iXBRL. It was only a matter of time before team Colruyt used the same XBRL tags to prepare their 2019-20 iXBRL annual report.
It is to the credit of team Colruyt that they opted to comply with Phase 1 and Phase 2 of ESEF right from the first year of their compliance (2019-20 annual report). In Phase 1, companies need to use XBRL tags to markup their primary financial statements. In Phase 2, they also need to block-tag the notes to accounts.
Since team Colruyt trained on preparing the 2018-19 annual report, they had a smooth process with the 2019-20 annual report, However, the company did not test-file their 2020 ESEF iXBRL filing with the regulator, deciding instead to benefit from the mandate’s postponement by one year. They were preparing for the mandatory 2021 ESEF filing that was to happen in 2022. They ensured that they were fully ready for the first live filing.
All efforts paid off when team Colruyt successfully complied with the ESEF mandate, filing their 2021 annual report with the Belgian regulator in August 2022.
Team Colruyt was highly impressed by IRIS CARBON®’s dedication to their ESEF compliance and 24*7 support during the filing period.
“We selected IRIS CARBON® for our ESEF iXBRL conversion, since IRIS is a global firm with deep experience in XBRL/iXBRL, great quality of filings, service delivery, and importantly, offers their service and solution at a very attractive price.
We started our iXBRL process in August 2019, and IRIS converted our 2018-19 Annual Financial Report into iXBRL within just 10 working days. A 2-day workshop conducted by them for our team was extremely helpful, and it was very nice to have our own tagged annual report as training material. This exercise also helped us in finalizing the XBRL tags this year, and we are fully ready for the upcoming 2020 ESEF mandate.
We are very happy with the turn time and quality of the iXBRL output created by IRIS CARBON®”.
Carine Gilissen
Head of Department, Group Financial Reporting
For Colruyt, the prospect of complying with a new mandate using a format they had no prior experience with was a challenge. But they were proactive about addressing the challenge by identifying a software platform that was to simplify the compliance process.
The client-first approach of team IRIS CARBON® – driven by customized training and unlimited support – and the platform’s state-of-the-art functionalities helped Colruyt to focus its energies on creating an annual report perfectly compliant with the ESEF mandate in all its aspects.
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